Rumley strengthens championship drive at Ace

Published: Saturday, August 24, 2013 at 01:41 AM.

“I could tell the car was getting better and better,” Rumley said. “He didn’t get going real good on the start. I just turned under him and went on. It worked out for us.”

Pelham’s John Moore finished third. He was followed by Raleigh’s Ryan Gray in fourth and Burlington’s Robert Turner in fifth among the 12-car field.

Rumley avoided possible disaster early on, when Barry Beggarly’s No. 82 Chevrolet spun out of third position on the 11th lap and clipped the passenger side of Rumley’s car.

“Luck was on my side, along with a good car,” Rumley said in Victory Lane, pointing the checkered flag toward his car’s dented, but not overly damaged right-front fender. “He spun up just enough where I just tapped him and didn’t do any damage.”

Meanwhile, Smith considered the night to be a missed opportunity. He said he thought he ran over some debris during a caution period, which caused a slow leak in his car’s right-rear tire.

“We went back green and the car just changed drastically. Evidently that was it,” Smith said. “But I’m not taking anything from Dustin. He did a superb job and once he got around us, I just couldn’t track him down.”

-- In the 30-lap Modifieds race, Speedy Faucette weathered a worsening mechanical issue and held on to pick up his third victory in a row and fourth of the season.

With double points on the line, and thus a greater impact on the championship chase hanging in the balance, he won the 100-lap Late Models feature to collect his third straight victory.

That’s one win covering each main event held in the track’s premier class this month, a late-season surge suggesting Rumley could be peaking at the perfect time.

And so despite the sometimes misty conditions here, the McLeansville driver’s quest for a third title in four years gained more traction with his fifth victory of the season.

Earlier this month, he was tied atop the division standings with R.D. Smith, the runner-up Friday night. Now, with three Late Models races remaining on Ace’s schedule, Rumley leads Smith by 14 points.

Smith’s No. 16 Ford, typically strongest in longer events like Friday night, led nearly the entire first half of the feature. Rumley said he knew his No. 88 Chevrolet was finding its groove by the time a caution period arrived on lap 42.

Then he dialed it up, using the ensuing double-file restart and bunched field to overtake Smith. Rumley proceeded to lead the final 55 laps.

“I could tell the car was getting better and better,” Rumley said. “He didn’t get going real good on the start. I just turned under him and went on. It worked out for us.”

Pelham’s John Moore finished third. He was followed by Raleigh’s Ryan Gray in fourth and Burlington’s Robert Turner in fifth among the 12-car field.

Rumley avoided possible disaster early on, when Barry Beggarly’s No. 82 Chevrolet spun out of third position on the 11th lap and clipped the passenger side of Rumley’s car.

“Luck was on my side, along with a good car,” Rumley said in Victory Lane, pointing the checkered flag toward his car’s dented, but not overly damaged right-front fender. “He spun up just enough where I just tapped him and didn’t do any damage.”

Meanwhile, Smith considered the night to be a missed opportunity. He said he thought he ran over some debris during a caution period, which caused a slow leak in his car’s right-rear tire.

“We went back green and the car just changed drastically. Evidently that was it,” Smith said. “But I’m not taking anything from Dustin. He did a superb job and once he got around us, I just couldn’t track him down.”

-- In the 30-lap Modifieds race, Speedy Faucette weathered a worsening mechanical issue and held on to pick up his third victory in a row and fourth of the season.

The Mebane driver, whose No. 10 car started in fifth position, led the latter half of the race after figuring a way past Phil Bryant at the front of the field.

But it was far from a finished proposition from there for Faucette, even with the race unfolding in an uninterrupted, caution-free manner. Randy Butner nearly caught him as the final laps wound down.

“It just kept getting worse,” Faucette said of the problems his car experienced. “But still had oil pressure and it wasn’t overheating, so probably just cracked a piston or something and dropped a cylinder or two.”

Pfafftown’s Butner placed second and trimmed four points off Jerry Scott’s division lead, which now stands at four points. Gibsonville’s Bryant came in third among the eight-car field.

-- In the 25-lap Mini Stocks race, A.J. Sanders’ sixth victory of the season came, at least in part, by way of Michael Tucker’s tough luck.

Thomasville’s Tucker led the opening 12 laps but relinquished the lead during a caution period, pulling off the front of the pack and into the pits to check some sort of concern with his No. 31 car.

Mocksville’s Sanders took control after that and went on to pad his already commanding points lead atop the division.

Walkertown’s P-Nut Vernon finished second. Tucker rallied to place third among the 10-car field.